That the United States government conducts "Black Projects" is no secret. Black projects are projects that are considered top secret. They are so top secret that the government will not even acknowledge that they exist and will hide the budget details of the project or mislead the public by providing false details on the project. The US Military/Industrial complex understandably requires that these projects exist. One reported project is called "Aurora".

The Aurora project is a supposed project to create an ultra high-speed aircraft, possibly unmanned, capable of speeds in excess of Mach 6. Witnesses have reported seeing the aircraft in the state of Nevada near the infamous Area 51. Observers report seeing a large, triangular shaped craft and have described it as "a high-speed aircraft characterized by a very loud, deep, rumbling engine noise reminiscent of heavy-lift rockets." At takeoff the reverberation has been described as "a sound like the sky ripping." Many have reported strange, earthquake like rumbles in the
Los Angeles area. The contrails are described as segmented or resembling "donuts on a rope" given most the theory that this craft is powered by a new "pulse" type engine (or PED's - Pulsed Detonation Engines). It has been reported by airborne observers as flying as high as 50,000 feet.
Some have reported the object to be triangular in shape. Others have reported it as a single bright light with extreme acceleration abilities. Some think it may even be a extraterrestrial craft that the government has secretly obtained and is testing.

In August 1989, Chris Gibson, an oil exploration engineer and former member of the Royal Observer Corps, was working on an oil rig in the North Sea when he saw an unusual formation of aircraft pass overhead. It consisted of a KC-135 tanker, two F-111s, and a fourth aircraft of a type that Gibson (an expert on aircraft recognition) had never seen before. Seen from below, it appeared to be a perfect triangle, slightly larger than the escorting F-111s, with a leading edge sweep angle of about 75 degrees. It was completely black, with no visible details (unlike the F-111s), and appeared to be taking on fuel from the KC-135.

It is alleged that the Aurora craft is being designed to replace the aging SR-71 aircraft used in top secret reconnaissance operations. They also believe the code name for this project may be "Senior Citizen".
The code name "Aurora" came from a 1985 Pentagon budget report that, because of a censor's error, listed the Aurora Project by mistake. Subsequent to this report (1986), large blocks of land around Area 51 were sealed off and some sort of intense construction around Groom Lake began. It is rumored that the construction is being done by the legendary Lockhead Martin Skunk Works - the outfit that created the original SR-71 in addition to the U-2 and the F-117A stealth aircraft.

The Jane's Report magazine has noted that recently "Lockheed's financial figures have indicated a continuing, large flow of income for 'classified' and 'special mission' aircraft." The government quickly responded to these reports by pointing out that satellite reconnaissance was indeed the wave of the future - not supersonic aircraft. When the director of the NRO was asked point-blank about the existence of the mysterious craft, the responded:

We do preliminary engineering, we do studies, we do development. But, in the case of a hypersonic vehicle, as has been widely speculated -- by which I mean a vehicle faster than an SR-71 -- Mach 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 -- we at NRO have no such vehicle flying or under development. I'm not aware of any such activity, and the Air Force has said the
same.

When asked about the sightings, a public affairs officer at the Air Force, which for years denied the existence of the plane now known as the F-117, says, "As far as the Air Force is concerned, there is no such program, and satellites are doing all reconnaissance work."

When Los Angeles residents recently complained of several earthquake-like rumblings heard in the Northeast, representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that some peculiar, unreported aircraft were probably responsible. Scientists are now referring to the phenomena as "airquakes".